The hopes of winning a regional were as high as the sun after Pontiac strolled off the golf course at Gibson City over the weekend. Like the sun, those hopes disappeared as the weather turned on the Indians, Prairie Central and eight other teams competing at the Champaign (Central) Regional tournament Tuesday at the University of Illinois Orange Course.

Rain, wind and a drastic temperature drop contributed to adverse conditions that Pontiac’s six golfers had trouble recovering from as the Tribe, perhaps the favorite coming in, finished fifth.

Prairie Central’s hopes of advancing to next week’s sectional were just as high as its Livingston County rival and the Hawks came two strokes closer of reaching that goal.

But it, too, was not to be as the Hawks had to wait out a long and nail biting afternoon before having the shut on them.

Instead, it was Champaign Centennial posting the three lowest scores on its way to a 324 and regional championship. The Chargers will advance to their own sectional next Monday. Also moving on will be Charleston and Mattoon, though their fates were not known until the final foursome made their way home. Charleston finished with a 346 and Mattoon had a 349.

The Hawks were fourth at 351 and Pontiac tallied a 353.

“I couldn’t be happier for them,” PC head coach Scott Willi said of his team. “It was rough conditions and they were playing some of their golf, though their score doesn’t show it. They fought hard and earned it.

“We were just talking to the kids to keep after it because the attitude could be the difference in weather like this.”

Pontiac’s score was very close to the Hawks throughout the later stages of the waiting process. But the Tribe came up short.

“The reality is they did their very best, you can’t ask for more than that,” PTHS head coach Paul Ritter said. “The conditions were even for everybody but it was unfortunate.”

Prairie Central was one of the first full teams to finish. The registered score stood for quite the time as the other scores filed in. The Hawks were still in the hunt to advance by the time the next-to-last group signed their respective cards.

PC was in second trailing Centennial with Pontiac, Charleston and Mattoon still having one player on the course with their scores hanging in the balance.

Smith was not doing so well after a bad start and PTHS was looking to be in trouble. However, the play of Nick Wilson from Charleston and Mattoon’s Austin Warrem were not known until they came in. Wilson finished with an 84 and Warrem had an 81 to lift their respective teams past the Hawks into and into the sectional round.

Page 2 of 3 - Kyler Hoffman of Prairie Central was one of those who did well. The senior led the Hawks with an 81. He said the weather started to turn when he was about halfway through his round. He shot 40 on the front and 41 on the back.

“My short game was really good, I got up and down a lot,” Hoffman said. “You putt a lot better and could get more spin. I just hit the ball well.”

His round included three birdies, including two while battling the wind and rain.

The Hawks had three players break 90 and each one advanced to the sectional as individuals. Corn Belt champion Lincoln Slagel carded an 85 after near-equal nines of 42 and 43. Freshman Alex Duffy actually did better in the rain by one stroke. He shot 44 on the front and 43 on the back for an 87.

What hurt the Hawks was having to take a high fourth-place score. Juniors Adam Livezey and Bryce Nowak each shot a 98, with one of them counting in the team score. Clay Mallory shot a 106.

Pontiac started later and had to deal with the deteriorating conditions for most of each player’s round. As a result, only two were able to break 90 and advance to the sectional as individuals.

There was a three-way tie at 90 for the final individual spot.

Just missing out was Trent Smith, who came in with a 91. The junior had one bad hole that chewed up his scorecard and spit out his chances. A 12 on the par-5 fourth hole took place just as the weather turned. He had a 50 on the front and rallied with a 41 on the back.

Senior Aaron Jiles also had a 91 to count toward the PTHS score. He had a 43 on the front but waned a bit on the back with a 48. Freshman Kyle Eggenberger, playing in his first varsity match of the season, shot a respectable 92 with nines of 46 and 46 and Hagen LePard, also a varsity novice, had a 96 after nines of 45 and 51.

Leading Pontiac were Eric Raube and John Leverton. Raube shot three strokes better on the back by coming in with a 40. He went out in 43 for his 83, which tied for sixth among all those who played.

“It was a sad day we didn’t go as a team,” Raube said. “The course played hard today but I fought through. I’m happy I played well in the tough conditions.”

Leverton was balanced on both nines by shooting a 44 on each side.

Page 3 of 3 - “I just want to improve on what I did today,” Leverton said. “I could not handle my clubs because they were slick. I putted well, that’s all I could do.”